Methods and infrastructure equipment

ABSTRACT

A method of operating a first infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network comprising a core network part, the first infrastructure equipment, a second infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node between the first infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and a downstream wireless communications device. The method comprising receiving from the second infrastructure equipment an indication of a first set of communications resources, allocating resource elements of the first set of communications resources for receiving first data for transmission to the core network part from the downstream wireless communications device, and receiving second data transmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements within a second set of communications resources, the second set of communications resources different from the first set of communications resources.

BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for theallocation of communications resources for the transmission of data on awireless backhaul communications link in a wireless communicationssystem.

Description of Related Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description which may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentinvention.

Third and fourth generation mobile telecommunication systems, such asthose based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE)architecture, are able to support more sophisticated services thansimple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations ofmobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radiointerface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user isable to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streamingand mobile video conferencing that would previously only have beenavailable via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy suchnetworks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks,i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, maybe expected to increase ever more rapidly.

As radio technologies continue to improve, for example with thedevelopment of 5G (“New Radio”), the possibility arises for thesetechnologies to be used not only by infrastructure equipment to provideservice to terminal devices in a cell, but also for interconnectinginfrastructure equipment to provide a wireless backhaul.

In view of this there is a need for a suitable means for allocatingcommunications resources for the transmission of data by means of awireless backhaul.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of theissues discussed above. Embodiments of the present technique can providea method of operating a first infrastructure equipment of a wirelesscommunications network, the wireless communications network comprising acore network part, the first infrastructure equipment, a secondinfrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node between thefirst infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device. The method comprisesreceiving from the second infrastructure equipment an indication of afirst set of communications resources, the first set of communicationsresources comprising one or more resource elements of a first carrierwithin a first time period, in response to receiving the indication ofthe first set of communications resources, allocating resource elementsof the first set of communications resources for receiving first datafor transmission to the core network part from the downstream wirelesscommunications device, and receiving second data transmitted by thesecond infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements withina second set of communications resources of the first carrier within thefirst time period, the second set of communications resources differentfrom the first set of communications resources.

Embodiments of the present technique can enable uplink data and downlinkdata to be efficiently transmitted between nodes forming a wirelessbackhaul to a core network part of a wireless communications network andbetween the nodes forming or making use of the wireless backhaul andterminal devices via a shared access.

Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined inthe appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary, but are notrestrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments,together with further advantages, will be best understood by referenceto the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein likereference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically represents some aspects of a LTE-type wirelesstelecommunication system which may be configured to operate inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio accesstechnology (RAT) wireless communications system which may be configuredto operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of some components of the wirelesscommunications system shown in FIG. 2 in more detail in order toillustrate example embodiments of the present technique;

FIG. 4 schematically represents some aspects of a wirelesstelecommunication network which may be configured to operate inaccordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a message sequence chart showing communications in awireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates graphically communications resource allocationsaccording to an example of the present technique;

FIG. 7 illustrates a message sequence chart showing communications in awireless communications network in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Long Term Evolution (LTE) RadioAccess Technology (4G)

FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basicfunctionality of a mobile telecommunications network/system 6 operatinggenerally in accordance with LTE principles, but which may also supportother radio access technologies including NR (New RAT), and which may beadapted to implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein.Various elements of FIG. 1 and certain aspects of their respective modesof operation are well-known and defined in the relevant standardsadministered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, and also described in many books onthe subject, for example, Holma H. and Toskala A [1]. It will beappreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications networksdiscussed herein which are not specifically described (for example inrelation to specific communication protocols and physical channels forcommunicating between different elements) may be implemented inaccordance with any known techniques, for example according to therelevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions to therelevant standards.

The network 6 includes a plurality of base stations 1 connected to acore network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (i.e. acell) within which data can be communicated to and from terminal devices4.

Although each base station 1 is shown in FIG. 1 as a single entity, theskilled person will appreciate that some of the functions of the basestation may be carried out by disparate, inter-connected elements, suchas antennas, remote radio heads, amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one ormore base stations may form a radio access network.

Data is transmitted from base stations 1 to terminal devices 4 withintheir respective coverage areas 3 via a radio downlink Data istransmitted from terminal devices 4 to the base stations 1 via a radiouplink The core network 2 routes data to and from the terminal devices 4via the respective base stations 1 and provides functions such asauthentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Terminaldevices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE),user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so forth.

Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to theinternet or to external telephony services. The core network 2 mayfurther track the location of the terminal devices 4 so that it canefficiently contact (i.e. page) the terminal devices 4 for transmittingdownlink data towards the terminal devices 4.

Base stations, which are an example of network infrastructure equipment,may also be referred to as transceiver stations, nodeBs, eNodeBs, eNB,gNodeBs, gNB and so forth. In this regard different terminology is oftenassociated with different generations of wireless telecommunicationssystems for elements providing broadly comparable functionality.However, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equallyimplemented in different generations of wireless telecommunicationssystems, and for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardlessof the underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of aspecific term in relation to certain example implementations is notintended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certaingeneration of network that may be most associated with that particularterminology.

New Radio Access Technology (NR) (5G)

An example configuration of a wireless communications network which usessome of the terminology proposed for NR and 5G is shown in FIG. 2. InFIG. 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 areconnected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 by a connectioninterface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged totransmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within aradio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communicationsnetwork. Thus within a range for performing radio communications via thewireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of thewireless communications network as represented by a line 12. The TRP inFIG. 2 may be a base station, gNodeB (gNB). As such terminal devices 14which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via thewireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 areconnected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as acontrolling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is thenconnected to the a core network 20 which may contain all other functionsrequired to transmit data for communicating to and from the terminaldevices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 30.

The elements of the wireless access network shown in FIG. 2 may operatein a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network asdescribed with regard to the example of FIG. 1. It will be appreciatedthat operational aspects of the telecommunications network representedin FIG. 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance withembodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (forexample in relation to specific communication protocols and physicalchannels for communicating between different elements) may beimplemented in accordance with any known techniques, for exampleaccording to currently used approaches for implementing such operationalaspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance withthe relevant standards.

The TRPs 10 of FIG. 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality toa base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly the terminaldevices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciatedtherefore that operational aspects of a NR (New RAT) network (forexample in relation to specific communication protocols and physicalchannels for communicating between different elements) may be differentto those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunicationsstandards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the corenetwork component, base stations and terminal devices of a new RATnetwork will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core networkcomponent, base stations and terminal devices of an LTE wirelesscommunications network.

In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 of thenew RAT telecommunications system represented in FIG. 2 may be broadlyconsidered to correspond with the core network 2 represented in FIG. 1,and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributedunits/TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionalitycorresponding to the base stations 1 of FIG. 1. The term networkinfrastructure equipment/access node may be used to encompass theseelements and more conventional base station type elements of wirelesstelecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand theresponsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on theradio interface between the respective distributed units and theterminal devices may lie with the controlling node/central unit and/orthe distributed units/TRPs. A terminal device 14 is represented in FIG.2 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. Thisterminal device 14 may thus exchange signaling with the first centralunit 40 in the first communication cell 212 via one of the distributedunits 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

It will further be appreciated that FIG. 2 represents merely one exampleof a proposed architecture for a new RAT telecommunications system inwhich approaches in accordance with the principles described herein maybe adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be appliedin respect of wireless telecommunications systems having differentarchitectures.

Thus certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may beimplemented in wireless telecommunication systems/networks according tovarious different architectures, such as the example architectures shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wirelesstelecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not ofprimary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard,certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in thecontext of communications between network infrastructureequipment/access nodes and a terminal device, wherein the specificnature of the network infrastructure equipment/access node and theterminal device will depend on the network infrastructure for theimplementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the networkinfrastructure equipment/access node may comprise a base station, suchas an LTE-type base station 1 as shown in FIG. 1 which is adapted toprovide functionality in accordance with the principles describedherein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment maycomprise a control unit/controlling node 40 and/or a TRP 10 of the kindshown in FIG. 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordancewith the principles described herein.

A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shownin FIG. 2 is provided by FIG. 3. In FIG. 3 a TRP 10 as shown in FIG. 2comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, awireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 whichmay operate to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more

UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in FIG. 3, anexample UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, areceiver 48 and a controller 44 which is configured to control thetransmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit signals representinguplink data to the wireless communications network via the wirelessaccess interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data assignals transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver48 in accordance with the conventional operation. The transmitters 30,49 and the receivers 32, 48 may include radio frequency filters andamplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in orderto transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the5G standard.

The controllers 34, 44 may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, ora dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions whichare stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory.The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, forexample, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory,operating according to instructions stored on a computer readablemedium.

As shown in FIG. 3 the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 whichconnects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalingtraffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network20.

The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The F1interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance withspecifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed froma fibre optic or other wired high bandwidth connection. In one examplethe connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. Theconnection to the core network can be generally referred to as abackhaul comprising the interface 16 from the network interface 50 ofthe TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU40.

Example embodiments of the present technique which can be formed from awireless communications network corresponding to that shown in FIG. 1 or2 is shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 provides an example in which cells of awireless communications network are formed from infrastructure equipmentwhich are provided with an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB)capability. The wireless communications network 100 comprises the corenetwork 20 and a first, a second, a third and a fourth terminal device(respectively 101, 102, 103 and 104) which may broadly correspond to theterminal devices 4, 14 described above.

The wireless communications network 100 comprises a radio accessnetwork, comprising a first infrastructure equipment 110, a secondinfrastructure equipment 111, a third infrastructure equipment 112, anda fourth infrastructure equipment 113. Each of the infrastructureequipment provides a coverage area (i.e. a cell, not shown in FIG. 4)within which data can be communicated to and from the terminal devices101-104. For example, the fourth infrastructure equipment 113 provides acell in which the third and fourth terminal devices 103 and 104 mayobtain service. Data is transmitted from the fourth infrastructureequipment 113 to the fourth terminal device 104 within its respectivecoverage area (not shown) via a radio downlink Data is transmitted fromthe fourth terminal device 104 to the fourth infrastructure equipment113 via a radio uplink

The infrastructure equipment 110-113 in FIG. 4 may correspond broadly tothe TRPs 10 of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 or to base stations or gNodeBs.

The first infrastructure equipment 110 in FIG. 4 is connected to thecore network 20 by means of one or a sequence of physical connections.The first infrastructure equipment 110 may comprise the TRP 10 (havingthe physical connection 16 to the DU 42) in combination with the DU 42(having a physical connection to the CU 40 by means of the F1 interface46) and the CU 40 (being connected by means of a physical connection tothe core network 20).

However, there may be no physical connection between any of the secondinfrastructure equipment 111, the third infrastructure equipment 112,and the fourth infrastructure equipment 113 and the core network 20. Assuch, it may be necessary (or, otherwise determined to be appropriate)for data received from a terminal device (i.e. uplink data), or data fortransmission to a terminal device (i.e. downlink data) to be transmittedto or from the core network 20 via infrastructure equipment (such as thefirst infrastructure equipment 110) which has a physical connection tothe core network 20, even if the terminal device is not currently servedby the first infrastructure equipment 110 but is, for example, in thecase of the terminal device 104, served by the fourth infrastructureequipment 113.

The second, third and fourth infrastructure equipment 111-113 in FIG. 4may each comprise a TRP, broadly similar in functionality to the TRPs 10of FIG. 2 or a base station or a gNodeB.

In some embodiments of the present technique, one or more of the secondto fourth infrastructure equipment 111-113 in FIG. 4 may furthercomprise a DU 42, and in some embodiments of the present technique, oneor more of the second to fourth infrastructure equipment 110-113 maycomprise a DU and a CU.

In some embodiments of the present technique, the CU 40 associated withthe first infrastructure equipment 110 may perform the function of a CUnot only in respect of the first infrastructure equipment 110, but alsoin respect of one or more of the second, the third and the fourthinfrastructure equipment 111-113.

In order to provide the transmission of the uplink data or the downlinkdata between a terminal device and the core network, a route isdetermined by any suitable means, with one end of the route being aninfrastructure equipment physically connected to a core network and bywhich uplink and downlink traffic is routed to or from the core network.

In the following, the term ‘node’ is used to refer to an entity whichforms a part of a route for the transmission of the uplink data or thedownlink data.

An infrastructure equipment which is physically connected to the corenetwork and operated in accordance with an example embodiment mayprovide communications resources to other infrastructure equipment andso is referred to as a ‘donor node’. An infrastructure equipment whichacts as an intermediate node (i.e. one which forms a part of the routebut is not acting as a donor node) is referred to as a ‘relay node’. Therelay node at the end of the route which is the infrastructure equipmentcontrolling the cell in which the terminal device is obtaining serviceis referred to as an ‘end node’.

In the wireless network illustrated in FIG. 4, each of the first tofourth infrastructure equipment 110-113 may therefore function as nodes.For example, a route for the transmission of uplink data from the fourthterminal device 104 may consist of the fourth infrastructure equipment113 (acting as the end node), the third infrastructure equipment 112(acting as a relay node), and the first infrastructure equipment 110(acting as the donor node). The first infrastructure 110, beingconnected to the core network 20, transmits the uplink data to the corenetwork 20

For clarity in the following description, the infrastructure equipment110 is referred to below as the ‘donor node’, the first infrastructureequipment 111 is referred to below as ‘Node 1’, the secondinfrastructure equipment 112 is referred to below as ‘Node 2’ and thethird infrastructure equipment 113 is referred to below as ‘Node 3’.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the term ‘upstream node’ isused to refer to a node acting as a relay node or a donor node in aroute, which is a next hop when used for the transmission of data viathat route from a terminal device to a core network. Similarly,‘downstream node’ or ‘downstream wireless communications device’ is usedto refer to a relay node or other communications device (such as aterminal device or UE) from which uplink data is received fortransmission to a core network. For example, if uplink data istransmitted via a route comprising (in order) the Node 3 113, the Node 1111 and the donor node 110, then the donor node 110 is an upstream nodewith respect to the Node 1 111, and the Node 3 113 is a downstream nodewith respect to the Node 1 111. Considering a route comprising asequence of nodes, a node in the route may be referred to as a ‘parentnode’ of another node in the route which is downstream of the ‘parentnode’ and is an adjacent node to the ‘parent node’ in the route.Similarly, a node in the route may be referred to as a ‘child node’ ofanother node in the route which is upstream of the ‘child node’ and isadjacent to the ‘child node’ in the route. More than one route may beused for the transmission of the uplink data from a given terminaldevice; this is referred to herein as ‘multi-connectivity’. For example,the uplink data transmitted by the terminal device 104 may betransmitted either via the Node 3 113 and the Node 2 112 to the donornode 110, or via the Node 3 113 and the Node 1 111 to the donor node110.

In the following description, example embodiments are described in whicheach of the nodes is an infrastructure equipment; the present disclosureis not so limited. A node may comprise at least a transmitter, areceiver and a controller. In some embodiments of the present technique,the functionality of a node (other than the donor node) may be carriedout by a terminal device, which may be the terminal device 4 (of FIG. 1)or 14 (of FIG. 2), adapted accordingly. As such, in some embodiments ofthe present technique, a route may comprise one or more terminaldevices. In other embodiments, a route may consist of only a pluralityof infrastructure equipment.

In some embodiments of the present technique, an infrastructureequipment acting as a node may not provide a wireless access interfacefor the transmission of data to or by a terminal device other than aspart of an intermediate transmission along a route.

In some embodiments of the present technique, a route is definedconsidering a terminal device (such as the terminal device 104) as thestart of a route. In other embodiments a route is considered to start atan infrastructure equipment which provides a wireless access interfacefor the transmission of the uplink data by a terminal device.

In order for data to be transmitted to or from terminal devices whichare in cells generated by infrastructure equipment which do not have adedicated backhaul connection to the core network part, the data must betransmitted to the core network via a wireless backhaul provided by oneor more infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay. Downlinkdata from the core network for the terminal devices must also betransmitted via the wireless backhaul. A communications link forming thewireless backhaul may share communications resources with a wirelessaccess interface used in a cell and/or with other communication linksforming the wireless backhaul.

To enable the transmission of the uplink data and the downlink data viaa wireless backhaul, there is thus a need for communications resourcesto be allocated for the transmission of the data from one node toanother.

In order to meet the data communications requirements of the terminaldevices efficiently, there is a need to provide efficient and lowlatency data transmission via the wireless backhaul, while schedulingthe use of the communications resources in a manner that does notconflict with the capabilities of infrastructure equipment acting as abackhaul relay node, in particular with respect to the possibility oftransmitting and/or receiving data to or from two differentinfrastructure equipment or terminal devices using the same resourceelements (e.g. characterised by time and frequency) of a wireless accessinterface.

According to example embodiments of the present technique, there istherefore provided a method of operating a first infrastructureequipment of a wireless communications network, the wirelesscommunications network comprising a core network part, a backhaul relaynode comprising the first infrastructure equipment, an upstream relaynode comprising a second infrastructure equipment, the upstream relaynode providing a backhaul relay between the first infrastructureequipment and the core network part, and a downstream wireless device.

The method comprises receiving from the upstream relay node anindication of a first set of communications resources, the first set ofcommunications resources comprising one or more resource elements of acarrier within a first time period, in response to receiving theindication of the first set of communications resources, allocating aportion of the first set of communications resources for receiving firstdata for transmission to the core network part from the downstreamwireless communications device, and receiving second data transmitted bythe upstream relay node on one or more resource elements within a secondset of communications resources of the carrier within the first timeperiod, the second set of communications resources different from thefirst set of communications resources.

Each of the first infrastructure equipment acting as the donor node 110and the second to fourth infrastructure equipment acting as the Nodes1-3 111-113 may communicate with one or more other nodes by means of aninter-node wireless communications link, which may also be referred toas a wireless backhaul communications link For example, FIG. 4illustrates four inter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134,136, which include a first inter-node wireless communications link 130used for communications between the donor node 110 and the Node 1 111,and a second inter-node wireless communications link 136 used forcommunications between the Node 1 111 and the Node 3 113.

Each of the inter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134, 136may be provided by means of a respective wireless access interface.Alternatively, two or more of the inter-node wireless communicationslinks 130, 132, 134, 136 may be provided by means of a common wirelessaccess interface and in particular, in some embodiments, all of theinter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134, 136 are providedby a shared wireless access interface.

A wireless access interface which provides an inter-node wirelesscommunications link may also be used for communications between aninfrastructure equipment (which may be a node) and a terminal devicewhich is served by the infrastructure equipment. For example, theterminal device 104 may communicate with the infrastructure equipmentNode 3 113 using the wireless access interface which provides theinter-node wireless communications link 134 connecting the Node 3 113and the Node 2 112.

The wireless access interface(s) providing the inter-node wirelesscommunications links 130, 132, 134, 136 may operate according to anyappropriate specifications and techniques. In some embodiments, awireless access interface used for the transmission of data from onenode to another uses a first technique and a wireless access interfaceused for the transmission of data between an infrastructure equipmentacting as a node and a terminal device may use a second techniquedifferent from the first. In some embodiments, the wireless accessinterface(s) used for the transmission of data from one node to anotherand the wireless access interface(s) used for the transmission of databetween an infrastructure equipment and a terminal device use the sametechnique.

Examples of wireless access interface standards include the thirdgeneration partnership project (3GPP)-specified general packet radioservice (GPRS)/enhanced data rates for global system for mobilecommunications (GSM) evolution (EDGE) (“2G”), wideband code divisionmultiple access (WCDMA) universal mobile telecommunications system(UMTS) and related standards such as HSPA (high speed packet access) andHSPA+(“3G”), LTE (long term evolution) and related standards includingLTE-A (“4G”), and new radio access technology (NR) (“5G”). Techniquesthat may be used to provide a wireless access interface include one ormore of time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency divisionmultiple access FDMA, orthogonal frequency division multiple accessOFDMA, single carrier frequency division multiple access SC-FDMA, codedivision multiple access CDMA. Duplexing (i.e. the transmission over awireless link in two directions) may be by means of frequency divisionduplexing (FDD) or time division duplexing (TDD) or a combination ofboth.

In some embodiments of the present technique, two or more of theinter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134, 136 may sharecommunications resources. This may be because two or more of theinter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134, 136 are providedby means of a single wireless access interface or because two or more ofthe inter-node wireless communications links 130, 132, 134, 136nevertheless operate simultaneously using a common range of frequencies.

As described above in respect of FIG. 3, a physical interface 46 mayconnect a DU 41 and a CU 40. In some embodiments, one DU 41 may beassociated with the donor node 110, and a different DU 41 may beassociated with another infrastructure equipment, such as for examplethe Node 1 111. In such embodiments, a logical F1 connection may berealised between a CU 40 associated with an donor node and a DU 41associated with the Node 1 111 by means of a combination of the physicalinterface 46 connecting the CU 40 to the DU 41 associated with the donornode 110, the interface 16 connecting the DU 41 associated with thedonor node 110 with the TRP 10 associated with the donor node 110, andone or more of the inter-node wireless communications links 130, 132,134, 136.

A wireless access interface may provide communications resources whichcan be allocated by any appropriate method to an individual transmissionor a group of transmissions. For example, the communications resourcesmay be characterised by one or more of a time period, a range offrequencies, a MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) layer, an RS (ReferenceSignal) port, a transmission beam and a code sequence. Generally,transmissions using communications resources which are mutuallyorthogonal may be successfully distinguished from each other byappropriate signal processing techniques at the receiving entity.

A communications resource allocation may therefore comprise a set ofcommunications resources for a particular purpose. The communicationsresource allocation may be characterised in any manner appropriate tothe technology and/or standard used for the corresponding wirelessaccess interface. For example, a communications resource allocation inan OFDM-based wireless access interface may comprise one or moreresource elements, each characterised by a time period (which may beexpressed in terms of OFDM symbols) and one or more sub-carriers in thefrequency domain.

A communications resource allocation may comprise a periodic repetition.For example, an allocation may comprise a set of sub-carriers for theduration of a slot (or some portion thereof), in each slot N where N modTperiod=A, where Tperiod is the periodicity of the allocation and A isan offset value. The number of repetitions or the duration for which theallocation remains valid may be limited.

As described above, in some embodiments, there may be multiple routesfrom an infrastructure equipment to the donor node 110. For example, inFIG. 4, the Node 3 113 may transmit the uplink data to the donor node111 via either, or both of, the Node 1 111 and the Node 2 112. In suchcircumstances, the Node 3 113 may receive communications resourceallocations from either or both of the Node 1 111 and the Node 2 112.

FIG. 5 illustrates a message sequence chart showing transmissions inaccordance with embodiments of the present technique for thetransmission of uplink data and downlink data.

FIG. 5 shows the donor node 110, the Node 1 111, the Node 3 113 and thefirst UE 101. As described above, the donor node 110 is aninfrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node between theNode 1 111 and the core network part 20 and acting as a parent node withrespect to the Node 1 111. The Node 1 111 may be an infrastructureequipment acting as a child node (with respect to the donor node 110).

Node 1 111 is also acting as a parent node with respect to the Node 3113 and the first UE 101. Similarly, the Node 3 113 and the first UE 101are child nodes of the Node 1 111. The Node 3 113 and the first UE 101may be referred to as downstream wireless communications devices withrespect to the Node 1 111 or the Node 2 112, acting as relay nodes.

However, it will be appreciated that the embodiments of the presenttechnique are not limited to the particular topology, and in particularmay apply to other arrangements where the parent node with respect tothe Node 1 111 is a backhaul relay node which is not a donor node.Similarly, with respect to the Node 1 111, there may be one or moredownstream wireless communications devices; these may compriseinfrastructure equipment or terminal devices or both.

The donor node 110 communicates with the Node 1 111 via the firstinter-node wireless communications link 130; the Node 1 111 communicateswith the Node 3 113 via the second inter-node wireless communicationslink 136 and with the first UE 101 via a wireless access interface whichmay comprise communications resources which are common to one or more ofthe first and second inter-node wireless communication links 130, 136.In some embodiments of the present technique, the first and secondinter-node wireless communication links 130, 136 and the wireless accessinterface used by the first UE 101 comprise communications resourceswithin a single frequency resource. A frequency resource may be acontiguous range of carrier frequencies such as a single carrier,component carrier or a bandwidth part (BWP).

As shown in FIG. 4, the second UE 102 may also be a child node of theNode 1 111, however for conciseness it is not shown in the topology ofFIG. 5. For example, the UE 102 may be in an idle mode and have noupstream data to transmit or downstream data to receive.

The process starts at step S501, in which the Node 1 111 acting as achild node of the donor node 110, transmits a simultaneous receivecapability indication 540 to the donor node 110. The simultaneousreceive capability indication 540 indicates that the Node 1 111 iscapable of simultaneously receiving transmissions from both its childnode (such as the Node 3 113 and/or the first UE 101) and from itsparent node (i.e. the donor node 110).

In step S502, the donor node 110, acting as the parent node of the Node1 111, transmits a child resource indication 550 to the Node 1 111. Thechild resource indication 550 indicates communications resources whichthe Node 1 111 may allocate for the reception of uplink data transmittedby its child nodes. The child resource indication 550 indicatescommunications resources within a first time period. For example, thechild resource indication 550 may indicate the child communicationsresources 602 bounded by a time t1 and a time t2 (the first time periodcorresponding to the time interval from time t1 to time t2) and boundedby frequencies f1 and f2, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the childcommunications resources 602 being those resources which the Node 1 mayallocate for the transmission of uplink data from one or more childnodes to the Node 1 111. The child resource indication 550 may containan explicit description of the child communications resources 602 (e.g.by reference to the resources bounded by times t1 and t2, and by thefrequencies f1 and f2). However, the child resource indication 550 mayalternatively indicate the child communications resources 602 in anyappropriate manner, for example, by describing resources which do notform the child communications resources 602 (for example, by referenceto resources prior to time t1 and after time t2 or which are atfrequencies below frequency f1 or above frequency f2).

At step S504, the Node 1 111 allocates one or more portions of the childcommunications resources 602 for the transmission of uplink data fromone or more child nodes to the Node 1 111. For example, the Node 1 111may allocate a first portion 604, comprising resource elements boundedby times t1 and t2, and by frequencies f3 and f2 shown in FIG. 6, forthe transmission of uplink data from the Node 3 113 to the Node 1 111.Similarly, the Node 1 111 may allocate a second portion 606, comprisingresource elements bounded by times t1 and t2, and by frequencies f4 andf1 shown in FIG. 6, for the transmission of uplink data from the firstUE 101 to the Node 1 111.

At steps S506 and S508, the Node 1 111 transmits an indication of theallocation of the first portion and an indication of the allocation ofthe second portion to, respectively, the Node 3 113 and the first UE101.

At step S510, the Node 1 111 receives an parent resource indication 560indicating an allocation of parent communications resources which thedonor node 110 has allocated for the transmission of downlink data, tobe received by the Node 1 111.

The parent resource indication 560 indicates parent communicationsresources within the first time period. For example, the parent resourceindication 560 may indicate the parent communications resources 610bounded by the time t1 and the time t2 and bounded by frequencies f5 andf6, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The parent communications resources 610and the child communications resources 602 may comprise resourceelements of the same frequency resource.

Accordingly, during the time period from t1 to t2, steps S512, S514 andS516 occur, by which the Node 1 111 receives, respectively, downlinkdata transmitted by the donor node 110 using the parent communicationsresources 610, uplink data transmitted by the Node 3 113 using the firstportion of the child communications resources 604, and uplink datatransmitted by the first UE 101 using the second portion of the childcommunications resources 606.

In accordance with embodiments of the present technique, therefore,within the first time period, there are allocated resources for the useof the Node 1 111. These resources comprise parent communicationsresources 610 and child communications resources 602. Both the parentcommunications resources 610 and child communications resources 602 areresources which are for the transmission of data which the Node 1 111 isto receive. As such, there is no requirement for the Node 1 111 tosimultaneously receive and transmit within the time period t1-t2;however, uplink data and downlink data may be simultaneouslytransmitted.

Furthermore, because the child communications resources 602 and theparent communications resources 610 may not overlap, the transmission ofthe uplink data by the Node 3 113 (at step S514) and by the first UE 101(at step S516) does not result in interference to the transmission ofthe downlink data by the donor node 110 (at step S512), and vice versa,even if the child communications resources 602 and the second parentcommunications resources 610 comprise resource elements of the samefrequency resource.

FIG. 7 illustrates a message sequence chart showing transmissions inaccordance with embodiments of the present technique for thetransmission of uplink data and downlink data.

FIG. 7 shows the donor node 110, the Node 1 111 the Node 3 113 and thefirst UE 101 as described above in respect of FIG. 5. However, it willbe appreciated that the embodiments of the present technique are notlimited to the particular topology

The process starts at step S701, in which the Node 1 111 acting as achild node of the donor node 110, transmits a simultaneous transmitcapability indication 740 to the donor node 110. The simultaneoustransmit capability indication 740 indicates that the Node 1 111 iscapable of simultaneously transmitting transmissions to both its childnode(s) (such as the Node 3 113 and the first UE 101) and to its parentnode (i.e. the donor node 110).

In step S702, the donor node 110, acting as the parent node of the Node1 111, transmits a second child resource indication 750 to the Node 1111. The second child resource indication 750 indicates communicationsresources which the Node 1 111 may allocate for the transmission ofdownlink data to its child nodes. The second child resource indication750 indicates communications resources within a second time period. Forexample, the second child resource indication 750 may indicate thesecond child communications resources 612 bounded by a time t3 and atime t4 (the second time period corresponding to the time interval fromtime t3 to time t4) and bounded by frequencies f1 and f2, as illustratedin FIG. 6, the second child communications resources 612 being thoseresources which the Node 1 may allocate for the transmission of uplinkdata to one or more child nodes by the Node 1 111. The second childresource indication 750 may contain an explicit description of thesecond child communications resources 612 or may alternatively indicatethe second child communications resources 612 in any appropriate manner,for example, by describing resources which do not form the second childcommunications resources 612.

At step S704, the Node 1 111 allocates one or more portions of thesecond child communications resources 612 for the transmission ofdownlink data by the Node 1 111 to one or more of its child nodes. Forexample, the Node 1 111 may allocate a third portion 614, comprisingresource elements bounded by times t3 and t4, and by frequencies f3 andf2 shown in FIG. 6, for the transmission of downlink data from the Node1 111 to the Node 3 113. Similarly, the Node 1 111 may allocate a fourthportion 616, comprising resource elements bounded by times t3 and t4 andby frequencies f4 and f1 shown in FIG. 6, for the transmission ofdownlink data from the Node 1 111 to the first UE 101.

At steps S706 and S708, the Node 1 111 transmits an indication of theallocation of the third portion and an indication of the allocation ofthe fourth portion to, respectively, the Node 3 113 and the first UE101.

At step S710, the Node 1 111 receives a second parent resourceindication 760 indicating an allocation of parent communicationsresources which the donor node 110 has allocated for the transmission ofuplink data by the Node 1 111 to the donor node 110.

The second parent resource indication 760 indicates second parentcommunications resources within the second time period. For example, thesecond parent resource indication 760 may indicate the second parentcommunications resources 620 bounded by the time t3 and the time t4 andbounded by frequencies f5 and f6, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The secondparent communications resources 620 and the second child communicationsresources 612 may comprise resource elements of the same frequencyresource (e.g. same component carrier), and may comprise resourceelements of the same frequency resource (e.g. component carrier) as thefrequency resource associated with the child communications resources602 and the parent communications resources 610.

Accordingly, during the second time period from t3 to t4, steps S712,S714 and S716 occur, by which the Node 1 111 transmits, respectively,uplink data to the donor node 110 using the second parent communicationsresources 620, downlink data transmitted to the Node 3 113 using thethird portion of the second child communications resources 614, anddownlink data transmitted to the first UE 101 using the fourth portionof the second child communications resources 616.

In accordance with embodiments of the present technique, therefore,within the second time period, there are allocated resources for the useof the Node 1 111. These resources comprise second parent communicationsresources 620 and the second child communications resources 612. Boththe second parent communications resources 610 and the second childcommunications resources 612 are resources which are for thetransmission of data by the Node 1 111. As such, there is no requirementfor the Node 1 111 to simultaneously receive and transmit within thesecond time period t3-t4; however, uplink data and downlink data may besimultaneously transmitted.

Furthermore, because the second child communications resources 612 andthe second parent communications resources 620 do not overlap, thetransmission of the downlink data by the Node 1 111 (at steps S714 andS716) does not result in interference to the transmission of the uplinkdata by the Node 1 111 (at step S712), and vice versa, even if thesecond child communications resources 612 and the second parentcommunications resources 620 comprise resource elements of the samefrequency resource.

The steps in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 may be performed in an order differentfrom that shown above. For example, steps S506, S508, and S510 may occurin any relative sequence; similarly, steps S706, S708 and S710 may occurin an order different from that shown. In some embodiments, one or moresteps may be omitted; for example, one or more of the steps S701 andS501 may be omitted.

In some embodiments, the processes described above and illustrated inFIG. 5 and FIG. 7 may be combined. For example, steps S502 and S702 maybe combined, for example, where child communications resources foruplink transfer (i.e. where the child node receives data transmissionsfrom its child node(s)) and for downlink transfer (i.e. where the childnode transmits data to its child node(s)) are configured by means of asingle RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the steps S701 and S501may be combined and a single capability indicator, comprising thesimultaneous transmit capability indication 740 and the simultaneousreceive capability indication 540 may be transmitted to the donor node110.

Although t2 and t3 of FIG. 6 are shown as separated in time, the presentdisclosure is not so limited; in some embodiments, for example, t2 andt3 may be substantially the same, or may be separated by a minimum timeperiod required for the transceiver of the Node 1 111 to be reconfiguredfrom a receive mode to a transmit mode.

Similarly, although the child communications resources are shown asbounded by frequencies f1 and f2 for both the first and second timeperiods and the parent communications resources are shown as bounded byfrequencies f5 and f6 for both the first and second time periods, thedisclosure is not so limited.

In some embodiments of the present technique, the parent communicationsresources comprise resources within a time period which is a portion ofthe time period associated with the child communications resources.

The child communications resources may be configured by a node acting asa parent node (which may be the donor node 110 in the examples of FIG. 5and FIG. 7) in a semi-static manner. For example, the childcommunications resources may comprise periodically repeating resources.The semi-statically configured child communications resources may repeatindefinitely until the child communications resources are explicitlyreleased or otherwise modified.

The child communications resources may be configured (i.e. allocated,modified, or released) by means of radio resource control (RRC)signaling. In addition, a child communications resources set, comprisinga plurality of child communications resources, may be configured bymeans of RRC signaling.

One of the child communications resources within the childcommunications resources set may be allocated (or in other words,activated) by means of a transmission of downlink control information(DCI), which may be transmitted on a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH). The DCI may be transmitted for the purpose of indicating theone of the child communications resources from the configured childcommunications resources set.

In some embodiments, a PDCCH may be used by an infrastructure equipmentacting as a relay node to schedule transmissions to its child node(s) orby its child node(s) to the infrastructure equipment acting as a relaynode. The PDCCH used for scheduling transmissions to or from a childnode may differ from a PDCCH used by a parent node to indicate childcommunications resources; for example, they may differ in a format ofthe DCI and/or in a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) indicated(e.g. by means of a scrambling of a cyclic redundancy check portion) inthe DCI.

The RNTI and/or DCI format associated with one or both of the PDCCHs maybe configured by the parent node and indicated to the child node (e.g.by means of the parent node transmitting RRC signaling).

A slot format indication (SFI) may be transmitted by an infrastructureequipment on a group common PDCCH and may indicate, for each OFDMsymbol, whether that symbol is allocated for transmission (downlinkresource) or reception (uplink resource) by the infrastructureequipment. An SFI may alternatively indicate that an OFDM symbol is aflexible resource.

In some embodiments of the present technique, the child communicationsresources are indicated by an infrastructure equipment acting as aparent node by means of one or more slot format indications (SFI).

The infrastructure equipment acting as a parent node may indicate (forexample, at step S550 of FIG. 5 or at step S750 of FIG. 7) that one ormore OFDM symbols are child communications resources by indicating usingcorresponding SFI transmissions that the one or more OFDM symbols makingup the child communications resources are flexible resources.

An infrastructure equipment acting as a child node may determine thatthe child communications resources include an OFDM symbol which may beallocated for transmission or reception by the infrastructure equipmentacting as the child node, if the OFDM symbol is indicated by means of anSFI transmission by the infrastructure equipment acting as the parentnode as being a flexible resource.

In some embodiments, one or more symbols may be configured (e.g. bymeans of RRC signaling) as being potential child communicationsresources. These symbols may be further configured as potential childcommunications resources for reception of data by the infrastructureequipment acting as a child node or as potential child communicationsresources for transmission of data by the infrastructure equipmentacting as a child node. Subsequent to the configuration, an SFItransmission by the infrastructure equipment acting as the parent nodemay indicate (e.g. by means of an SFI indication corresponding to aflexible resource indication), in respect of an OFDM symbol within thepotential child communications resources, that the child communicationsresources include the OFDM symbol associated with the SFI transmission,in accordance with the configuration. Accordingly, the infrastructureequipment acting as a child node may receive an indication of theconfiguration, receive the SFI indication, and based on the SFIindication and the configuration, determine that the childcommunications resources include the OFDM symbol, and that the OFDMsymbol may be scheduled for transmission or reception of data by theinfrastructure equipment acting as a child node, as the case may be.

In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment acting as a child nodemay determine that the child communications resources include the OFDMsymbol, and that the OFDM symbol may be allocated for reception by theinfrastructure equipment acting as the child node, if the OFDM symbol isindicated by means of the SFI transmission by the infrastructureequipment acting as the parent node as being a downlink resource.

In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment acting as a child nodemay determine that the child communications resources include the OFDMsymbol, and that the OFDM symbol may be allocated for transmission bythe infrastructure equipment acting as the child node, if the OFDMsymbol is indicated by means of the SFI transmission by aninfrastructure equipment acting as the parent node as being a uplinkresource.

In some embodiments, a PDCCH may be used by an infrastructure equipmentacting as a relay node to schedule transmissions to its child node(s) orby its child node(s) to the infrastructure equipment acting as a relaynode.

In accordance with embodiments of the present application, theinfrastructure equipment acting as the parent node, having indicatedcommunications resources during a time period which are available forthe child node to allocate for transmissions by the infrastructureequipment acting as a child node to its child nodes, may refrain fromallocating resources during the same time period for the infrastructureequipment acting as the child node to receive data transmitted by theinfrastructure equipment acting as the parent node. The infrastructureequipment acting as the parent node may, however, allocatenon-overlapping resources during the same time period for theinfrastructure equipment acting as the child node to transmit data tothe infrastructure equipment acting as the parent node.

Similarly, in accordance with embodiments of the present application,the parent node, having indicated communications resources during a timeperiod which are available for the child node to allocate fortransmissions by child nodes of the child node to the child node, mayrefrain from allocating resources during the same time period for thechild node to transmit data to the parent node. The parent node may,however, allocate non-overlapping resources during the same time periodfor the parent node to transmit data to the child node.

In some embodiments of the present technique, an infrastructureequipment acting as a parent node (such as the donor node 110) whichindicates that child communications resources within a time period (suchas the first time period t1-t2) are available for a child node (such asthe Node 1 111) to allocate for transmissions by child nodes of thechild node (such as the Node 3 113 and the first UE 101) to the childnode (Node 1 111), may also allocate resources during the same timeperiod for the child node (Node 1 111) to receive data from the parentnode (i.e. the donor node 110). In some embodiments, this may be inresponse to receiving, from the Node 1 111 a simultaneous receivecapability indication, which indicates that the Node 1 111 is capable ofsimultaneously receiving transmissions from both its child node (such asthe Node 3 113 and the first UE 101) and from its parent node (i.e. thedonor node 110).

If the donor node 110 does not receive the simultaneous receivecapability indication (or receives an indication that the Node 1 111 isnot capable of simultaneously receiving transmissions from both itschild node and from its parent node), it may refrain from allocatingresources for the child node (i.e. the Node 1 111) to receive data fromthe parent node during the time period in which the child communicationsresources have been allocated.

In some embodiments of the present technique, a parent node (such as thedonor node 110) which indicates that child communications resourceswithin a time period (such as the second time period t3-t4) areavailable for a child node (such as the Node 1 111) to allocate fortransmissions to child nodes of the child node (such as the Node 3 113and the first UE 101), may also allocate resources during the same timeperiod for the child node (Node 1 111) to transmit data to the parentnode (i.e. the donor node 110). In some embodiments, this may be inresponse to receiving, from the Node 1 111 a simultaneous transmissioncapability indication which indicates that the Node 1 111 is capable ofsimultaneously transmitting both to its child node(s) (such as the Node3 113 and the first UE 101) and to its parent node (i.e. the donor node110).

If the donor node 110 does not receive a simultaneous transmissioncapability indication (or receives an indication that the Node 1 111 isnot capable of simultaneously transmitting both to its child node(s) andto its parent node), it may refrain from allocating resources for thechild node (i.e. the Node 1 111) to transmit data to the donor node 110during the second time period in which the child communicationsresources have been allocated.

There has thus been described a method of operating a firstinfrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, thewireless communications network comprising a core network part, thefirst infrastructure equipment, a second infrastructure equipment actingas a backhaul relay node between the first infrastructure equipment andthe core network part, and a downstream wireless communications device.

The method comprising receiving from the second infrastructure equipmentan indication of a first set of communications resources, the first setof communications resources comprising one or more resource elements ofa first carrier within a first time period, in response to receiving theindication of the first set of communications resources, allocatingresource elements of the first set of communications resources forreceiving first data for transmission to the core network part from thedownstream wireless communications device, and receiving second datatransmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one or moreresource elements within a second set of communications resources of thefirst carrier within the first time period, the second set ofcommunications resources different from the first set of communicationsresources.

Those skilled in the art would appreciate that such infrastructureequipment and/or communications devices as herein defined may be furtherdefined in accordance with the various arrangements and embodimentsdiscussed in the preceding paragraphs. It would be further appreciatedby those skilled in the art that such infrastructure equipment andcommunications devices as herein defined and described may form part ofcommunications systems other than those defined by the presentinvention.

It will be appreciated that while the present disclosure has in somerespects focused on implementations in an LTE-based and/or 5G networkfor the sake of providing specific examples, the same principles can beapplied to other wireless telecommunications systems. Thus, even thoughthe terminology used herein is generally the same or similar to that ofthe LTE and 5G standards, the teachings are not limited to the presentversions of LTE and 5G and could apply equally to any appropriatearrangement not based on LTE or 5G and/or compliant with any otherfuture version of an LTE, 5G or other standard.

It may be noted various example approaches discussed herein may rely oninformation which is predetermined/predefined in the sense of beingknown by both the base station and the terminal device. It will beappreciated such predetermined/predefined information may in general beestablished, for example, by definition in an operating standard for thewireless telecommunication system, or in previously exchanged signalingbetween the base station and terminal devices, for example in systeminformation signaling, or in association with radio resource controlsetup signaling, or in information stored in a SIM application. That isto say, the specific manner in which the relevant predefined informationis established and shared between the various elements of the wirelesstelecommunications system is not of primary significance to theprinciples of operation described herein. It may further be notedvarious example approaches discussed herein rely on information which isexchanged/communicated between various elements of the wirelesstelecommunications system and it will be appreciated such communicationsmay in general be made in accordance with conventional techniques, forexample in terms of specific signaling protocols and the type ofcommunication channel used, unless the context demands otherwise. Thatis to say, the specific manner in which the relevant information isexchanged between the various elements of the wirelesstelecommunications system is not of primary significance to theprinciples of operation described herein.

It will be appreciated that the principles described herein are notapplicable only to certain types of terminal device, but can be appliedmore generally in respect of any types of terminal device, for examplethe approaches are not limited to machine type communication devices/IoTdevices or other narrowband terminal devices, but can be applied moregenerally, for example in respect of any type terminal device operatingwith a wireless link to the communication network.

It will further be appreciated that the principles described herein arenot applicable only to LTE-based wireless telecommunications systems,but are applicable for any type of wireless telecommunications systemthat supports a random access procedure comprising an exchange of randomaccess procedure messages between a terminal device and a base station.

Further particular and preferred aspects of the present invention areset out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. It will beappreciated that features of the dependent claims may be combined withfeatures of the independent claims in combinations other than thoseexplicitly set out in the claims.

Thus, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scopeof the invention, as well as other claims. The disclosure, including anyreadily discernible variants of the teachings herein, define, in part,the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that no inventivesubject matter is dedicated to the public.

The following numbered paragraphs provide further example aspects andfeatures of the present technique:

Paragraph 1. A method of operating a first infrastructure equipment of awireless communications network, the wireless communications networkcomprising a core network part, the first infrastructure equipment, asecond infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node betweenthe first infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the method comprising:receiving from the second infrastructure equipment an indication of afirst set of communications resources, the first set of communicationsresources comprising one or more resource elements of a first frequencyresource within a first time period, in response to receiving theindication of the first set of communications resources, allocatingresource elements of the first set of communications resources forreceiving first data for transmission to the core network part from thedownstream wireless communications device, and receiving second datatransmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one or moreresource elements within a second set of communications resources of thefirst frequency resource within the first time period, the second set ofcommunications resources different from the first set of communicationsresources.

Paragraph 2. A method according Paragraph 1, wherein the downstreamwireless communications device is a third infrastructure equipment andthe first infrastructure equipment is acting as a second backhaul relaynode between the second infrastructure equipment and the thirdinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 3. A method according to Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2, themethod comprising: transmitting the first data to the secondinfrastructure equipment, and transmitting the second data to thedownstream wireless communications device.

Paragraph 4. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 3, wherein thesecond infrastructure equipment is connected to the core network part ofthe wireless communications network and is acting as a donor node.

Paragraph 5. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 4, the methodcomprising before receiving the second data from the secondinfrastructure equipment, receiving an indication that the second set ofcommunications resources has been allocated for the transmission of thesecond data by the second infrastructure equipment to the firstinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 6. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 5, the methodcomprising: receiving, from the second infrastructure equipment, anindication that the first set of communications resources are forallocation for a reception of data by the first infrastructureequipment.

Paragraph 7. A method according to Paragraph 6, wherein the indicationthat the first set of communications resources are for the allocationfor the reception of the data by the first infrastructure equipmentcomprises an indication that no communications resources on the firstfrequency resource within the first time period are for allocation forthe transmission of the data by the first infrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 8. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 7, whereinreceiving the indication of the first set of communications resourcescomprises receiving one or more slot format indications associated withthe first set of communications resources indicating that the first setof communications resources are not allocated for a transmission of databy the second infrastructure equipment to the first infrastructureequipment and the first set of communications resources are notallocated for a transmission of data by the first infrastructureequipment to the second infrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 9. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 8, wherein theallocating the resource elements of the first set of communicationsresources comprises transmitting one or more slot format indicationsassociated with the allocated resource elements of the first set ofcommunications resources, the one or more slot format indicationsindicating that the allocated resource elements of the first set ofcommunications resources are allocated for the transmission of the firstdata by the downstream wireless communications device to the firstinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 10. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 9, the methodcomprising: transmitting to the second infrastructure equipment anindication that the first infrastructure equipment supports simultaneousreception of the second data transmitted by the second infrastructureequipment and reception of the first data transmitted by the downstreamwireless communications device.

Paragraph 11. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 10, themethod comprising: receiving from the second infrastructure equipment anindication of a third set of communications resources, the third set ofcommunications resources comprising one or more resource elements of asecond frequency resource within a second time period, in response toreceiving the indication of the third set of communications resources,allocating resource elements of the third set of communicationsresources for transmitting third data from the core network part by thefirst infrastructure equipment to the downstream wireless communicationsdevice, and transmitting fourth to the second infrastructure equipmenton one or more resource elements within a fourth set of communicationsresources of the second frequency resource within the second timeperiod, the fourth set of communications resources different from thethird set of communications resources.

Paragraph 12. A method according to Paragraph 11, the method comprising:transmitting to the second infrastructure equipment an indication thatthe first infrastructure equipment supports simultaneous transmission ofdata to the second infrastructure equipment and transmission of data tothe downstream wireless communications device.

Paragraph 13. A method according to Paragraph 11 or Paragraph 12,wherein the first frequency resource and the second frequency resourceare the same.

Paragraph 14. A method of operating a first infrastructure equipment ofa wireless communications network, the wireless communications networkcomprising a core network part, a second infrastructure equipment, thefirst infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node betweenthe second infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the method comprising:transmitting to the second infrastructure equipment an indication of afirst set of communications resources, the first set of communicationsresources comprising one or more resource elements of a first frequencyresource within a first time period, the first set of communicationsresources being available for allocating by the second infrastructureequipment for a transmission of first data from a downstream wirelesscommunications device different from the first infrastructure equipmentto the second infrastructure equipment, for transmission to the corenetwork part, and transmitting second data to the second infrastructureequipment on one or more resource elements of the first frequencyresource within a second set of communications resources within thefirst time period, the second set of communications resources differentfrom the first set of communications resources.

Paragraph 15. A method according Paragraph 14, wherein the downstreamwireless communications device is a third infrastructure equipment andthe first infrastructure equipment is acting as a second backhaul relaynode between the second infrastructure equipment and the thirdinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 16. A method according to Paragraph 14 or Paragraph 15, themethod comprising: receiving the first data from the secondinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 17. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 16, whereinthe first infrastructure equipment is connected to the core network partof the wireless communications network and is acting as a donor node.

Paragraph 18. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 17, themethod comprising before transmitting the second data to the secondinfrastructure equipment, transmitting an indication that the second setof communications resources has been allocated for the transmission ofthe second data by the first infrastructure equipment to the secondinfrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 19. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 18, themethod comprising: transmitting to the second infrastructure equipmentan indication that the first set of communications resources are forallocation for a reception of data by the first infrastructureequipment.

Paragraph 20. A method according to Paragraph 19, wherein the indicationthat the first set of communications resources are for the allocationfor the reception of the data by the second infrastructure equipmentcomprises an indication that no communications resources on the firstfrequency resource within the first time period are for allocation forthe transmission of the data by the first infrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 21. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 20, whereintransmitting the indication of the first set of communications resourcescomprises transmitting one or more slot format indications associatedwith the first set of communications resources indicating that the firstset of communications resources are not allocated for a transmission ofdata by the first infrastructure equipment to the second infrastructureequipment and the first set of communications resources are notallocated for a transmission of data by the second infrastructureequipment to the first infrastructure equipment.

Paragraph 22. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 21, themethod comprising: receiving from the second infrastructure equipment anindication that the second infrastructure equipment supportssimultaneous reception of the second data transmitted by the firstinfrastructure equipment and reception of the first data transmitted bythe downstream wireless communications device.

Paragraph 23. A method according to any of Paragraphs 14 to 22, themethod comprising: transmitting to the second infrastructure equipmentan indication of a third set of communications resources, the third setof communications resources comprising one or more resource elements ofa second frequency resource within a second time period, the third setof communications resources being available for allocating by the secondinfrastructure equipment for a transmission of third data from the corenetwork part by the second infrastructure equipment to a downstreamwireless communications device, and receiving fourth data from thesecond infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements of thesecond frequency resource within a fourth set of communicationsresources within the second time period, the fourth set ofcommunications resources different from the third set of communicationsresources.

Paragraph 24. A method according to Paragraph 23, the method comprising:receiving from the second infrastructure equipment an indication thatthe second infrastructure equipment supports simultaneous transmissionof data to the first infrastructure equipment and transmission of datato the downstream wireless communications device.

Paragraph 25. A method according to Paragraph 23 or Paragraph 24,wherein the first frequency resource and the second frequency resourceare the same.

Paragraph 26. A first infrastructure equipment for operating in awireless communications network, the wireless communications networkcomprising a core network part, the first infrastructure equipment, asecond infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node betweenthe first infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the first infrastructureequipment comprising a transmitter for transmitting radio signals via awireless access interface of a radio access network part of the wirelesscommunications network, a receiver for receiving radio signalstransmitted via the wireless access interface of the radio accessnetwork part, and a controller configured to control the transmitter andthe receiver to receive from the second infrastructure equipment anindication of a first set of communications resources, the first set ofcommunications resources comprising one or more resource elements of afirst frequency resource within a first time period, in response toreceiving the indication of the first set of communications resources,to allocate resource elements of the first set of communicationsresources for receiving first data for transmission to the core networkpart from the downstream wireless communications device, and to receivesecond data transmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one ormore resource elements within a second set of communications resourcesof the first frequency resource within the first time period, the secondset of communications resources different from the first set ofcommunications resources.

Paragraph 27. Circuitry for a first infrastructure equipment foroperating in a wireless communications network, the wirelesscommunications network comprising a core network part, the firstinfrastructure equipment, a second infrastructure equipment acting as abackhaul relay node between the first infrastructure equipment and thecore network part, and a downstream wireless communications device, thecircuitry comprising transmitter circuitry for transmitting radiosignals via a wireless access interface of a radio access network partof the wireless communications network, receiver circuitry for receivingradio signals transmitted via the wireless access interface of the radioaccess network part, and controller circuitry configured to control thetransmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry to receive from thesecond infrastructure equipment an indication of a first set ofcommunications resources, the first set of communications resourcescomprising one or more resource elements of a first frequency resourcewithin a first time period, in response to receiving the indication ofthe first set of communications resources, to allocate resource elementsof the first set of communications resources for receiving first datafor transmission to the core network part from the downstream wirelesscommunications device, and to receive second data transmitted by thesecond infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements withina second set of communications resources of the first frequency resourcewithin the first time period, the second set of communications resourcesdifferent from the first set of communications resources.

Paragraph 28. A first infrastructure equipment for operating in awireless communications network, the wireless communications networkcomprising a core network part, a second infrastructure equipment, thefirst infrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node betweenthe second infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the first infrastructureequipment comprising a transmitter for transmitting radio signals via awireless access interface of a radio access network part of the wirelesscommunications network, a receiver for receiving radio signalstransmitted via the wireless access interface of the radio accessnetwork part, and a controller configured to control the transmitter totransmit to the second infrastructure equipment an indication of a firstset of communications resources, the first set of communicationsresources comprising one or more resource elements of a first frequencyresource within a first time period, the first set of communicationsresources being available for allocating by the second infrastructureequipment for a transmission of first data from a downstream wirelesscommunications device different from the first infrastructure equipmentto the second infrastructure equipment, for transmission to the corenetwork part, and to transmit second data to the second infrastructureequipment on one or more resource elements of the first frequencyresource within a second set of communications resources within thefirst time period, the second set of communications resources differentfrom the first set of communications resources.

Paragraph 29. Circuitry for a first infrastructure equipment foroperating in a wireless communications network, the wirelesscommunications network comprising a core network part, a secondinfrastructure equipment, the first infrastructure equipment acting as abackhaul relay node between the second infrastructure equipment and thecore network part, and a downstream wireless communications device, thecircuitry comprising transmitter circuitry for transmitting radiosignals via a wireless access interface of a radio access network partof the wireless communications network, receiver circuitry for receivingradio signals transmitted via the wireless access interface of the radioaccess network part, and controller circuitry configured to control thetransmitter circuitry to transmit to the second infrastructure equipmentan indication of a first set of communications resources, the first setof communications resources comprising one or more resource elements ofa first frequency resource within a first time period, the first set ofcommunications resources being available for allocating by the secondinfrastructure equipment for a transmission of first data from adownstream wireless communications device different from the firstinfrastructure equipment to the second infrastructure equipment, fortransmission to the core network part, and to transmit second data tothe second infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements ofthe first frequency resource within a second set of communicationsresources within the first time period, the second set of communicationsresources different from the first set of communications resources.

Further particular and preferred aspects of the present invention areset out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. It will beappreciated that features of the dependent claims may be combined withfeatures of the independent claims in combinations other than thoseexplicitly set out in the claims.

REFERENCES

-   [1] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based    radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009-   [2] RP-172834, “Revised WID on New Radio Access Technology,” NTT    DOCOMO, RAN #78

1. A method of operating a first infrastructure equipment of a wirelesscommunications network, the wireless communications network comprising acore network part, the first infrastructure equipment, a secondinfrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node between thefirst infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the method comprising:receiving from the second infrastructure equipment an indication of afirst set of communications resources, the first set of communicationsresources comprising one or more resource elements of a first frequencyresource within a first time period, in response to receiving theindication of the first set of communications resources, allocatingresource elements of the first set of communications resources forreceiving first data for transmission to the core network part from thedownstream wireless communications device, and receiving second datatransmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one or moreresource elements within a second set of communications resources of thefirst frequency resource within the first time period, the second set ofcommunications resources different from the first set of communicationsresources.
 2. A method according claim 1, wherein the downstreamwireless communications device is a third infrastructure equipment andthe first infrastructure equipment is acting as a second backhaul relaynode between the second infrastructure equipment and the thirdinfrastructure equipment.
 3. A method according to claim 1, the methodcomprising: transmitting the first data to the second infrastructureequipment, and transmitting the second data to the downstream wirelesscommunications device.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein thesecond infrastructure equipment is connected to the core network part ofthe wireless communications network and is acting as a donor node.
 5. Amethod according to claim 1, the method comprising before receiving thesecond data from the second infrastructure equipment, receiving anindication that the second set of communications resources has beenallocated for the transmission of the second data by the secondinfrastructure equipment to the first infrastructure equipment.
 6. Amethod according to claim 1, the method comprising: receiving, from thesecond infrastructure equipment, an indication that the first set ofcommunications resources are for allocation for a reception of data bythe first infrastructure equipment.
 7. A method according to claim 6,wherein the indication that the first set of communications resourcesare for the allocation for the reception of the data by the firstinfrastructure equipment comprises an indication that no communicationsresources on the first frequency resource within the first time periodare for allocation for the transmission of the data by the firstinfrastructure equipment.
 8. A method according to claim 1, whereinreceiving the indication of the first set of communications resourcescomprises receiving one or more slot format indications associated withthe first set of communications resources indicating that the first setof communications resources are not allocated for a transmission of databy the second infrastructure equipment to the first infrastructureequipment and the first set of communications resources are notallocated for a transmission of data by the first infrastructureequipment to the second infrastructure equipment.
 9. A method accordingto claim 1, wherein the allocating the resource elements of the firstset of communications resources comprises transmitting one or more slotformat indications associated with the allocated resource elements ofthe first set of communications resources, the one or more slot formatindications indicating that the allocated resource elements of the firstset of communications resources are allocated for the transmission ofthe first data by the downstream wireless communications device to thefirst infrastructure equipment.
 10. A method according to claim 1, themethod comprising: transmitting to the second infrastructure equipmentan indication that the first infrastructure equipment supportssimultaneous reception of the second data transmitted by the secondinfrastructure equipment and reception of the first data transmitted bythe downstream wireless communications device.
 11. A method according toclaim 1, the method comprising: receiving from the second infrastructureequipment an indication of a third set of communications resources, thethird set of communications resources comprising one or more resourceelements of a second frequency resource within a second time period, inresponse to receiving the indication of the third set of communicationsresources, allocating resource elements of the third set ofcommunications resources for transmitting third data from the corenetwork part by the first infrastructure equipment to the downstreamwireless communications device, and transmitting fourth to the secondinfrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements within afourth set of communications resources of the second frequency resourcewithin the second time period, the fourth set of communicationsresources different from the third set of communications resources.12.-13. (canceled)
 14. A method of operating a first infrastructureequipment of a wireless communications network, the wirelesscommunications network comprising a core network part, a secondinfrastructure equipment, the first infrastructure equipment acting as abackhaul relay node between the second infrastructure equipment and thecore network part, and a downstream wireless communications device, themethod comprising: transmitting to the second infrastructure equipmentan indication of a first set of communications resources, the first setof communications resources comprising one or more resource elements ofa first frequency resource within a first time period, the first set ofcommunications resources being available for allocating by the secondinfrastructure equipment for a transmission of first data from adownstream wireless communications device different from the firstinfrastructure equipment to the second infrastructure equipment, fortransmission to the core network part, and transmitting second data tothe second infrastructure equipment on one or more resource elements ofthe first frequency resource within a second set of communicationsresources within the first time period, the second set of communicationsresources different from the first set of communications resources. 15.A method according claim 14, wherein the downstream wirelesscommunications device is a third infrastructure equipment and the firstinfrastructure equipment is acting as a second backhaul relay nodebetween the second infrastructure equipment and the third infrastructureequipment.
 16. A method according to claim 14, the method comprising:receiving the first data from the second infrastructure equipment.
 17. Amethod according to claim 14, wherein the first infrastructure equipmentis connected to the core network part of the wireless communicationsnetwork and is acting as a donor node.
 18. A method according to claim14, the method comprising before transmitting the second data to thesecond infrastructure equipment, transmitting an indication that thesecond set of communications resources has been allocated for thetransmission of the second data by the first infrastructure equipment tothe second infrastructure equipment.
 19. A method according to claim 14,the method comprising: transmitting to the second infrastructureequipment an indication that the first set of communications resourcesare for allocation for a reception of data by the first infrastructureequipment.
 20. (canceled)
 21. A method according to claim 14, whereintransmitting the indication of the first set of communications resourcescomprises transmitting one or more slot format indications associatedwith the first set of communications resources indicating that the firstset of communications resources are not allocated for a transmission ofdata by the first infrastructure equipment to the second infrastructureequipment and the first set of communications resources are notallocated for a transmission of data by the second infrastructureequipment to the first infrastructure equipment.
 22. (canceled)
 23. Amethod according to claim 14, the method comprising: transmitting to thesecond infrastructure equipment an indication of a third set ofcommunications resources, the third set of communications resourcescomprising one or more resource elements of a second frequency resourcewithin a second time period, the third set of communications resourcesbeing available for allocating by the second infrastructure equipmentfor a transmission of third data from the core network part by thesecond infrastructure equipment to a downstream wireless communicationsdevice, and receiving fourth data from the second infrastructureequipment on one or more resource elements of the second frequencyresource within a fourth set of communications resources within thesecond time period, the fourth set of communications resources differentfrom the third set of communications resources. 24.-25. (canceled)
 26. Afirst infrastructure equipment for operating in a wirelesscommunications network, the wireless communications network comprising acore network part, the first infrastructure equipment, a secondinfrastructure equipment acting as a backhaul relay node between thefirst infrastructure equipment and the core network part, and adownstream wireless communications device, the first infrastructureequipment comprising a transmitter for transmitting radio signals via awireless access interface of a radio access network part of the wirelesscommunications network, a receiver for receiving radio signalstransmitted via the wireless access interface of the radio accessnetwork part, and a controller configured to control the transmitter andthe receiver to receive from the second infrastructure equipment anindication of a first set of communications resources, the first set ofcommunications resources comprising one or more resource elements of afirst frequency resource within a first time period, in response toreceiving the indication of the first set of communications resources,to allocate resource elements of the first set of communicationsresources for receiving first data for transmission to the core networkpart from the downstream wireless communications device, and to receivesecond data transmitted by the second infrastructure equipment on one ormore resource elements within a second set of communications resourcesof the first frequency resource within the first time period, the secondset of communications resources different from the first set ofcommunications resources. 27.-29. (canceled)